Homeless Children in America? Yes its true!

RUNAWAY HOTLINE 

(Click on link to the site)

24 HOUR

1-800-RUNAWAY

(1-800-786-2929)

Call 1-800-RUNAWAY if you are a teenager who is thinking of running from home, if you have a friend who has run and is looking for help, or if you are a runaway ready to go home.

Call 1-800-RUNAWAY if you care about a youth and want information on how you can help someone who may be at risk of running from home.

Call 1-800-RUNAWAY if you are a teacher looking for information to pass along to your students about youth homelessness or the reality of life on the streets.

This was a social experiment. Unfortunately, this is something that is happening all across America. its not only adults, but also families and children who have been abandoned by their families for unknown reasons. The part that got me was the number of people who just looked at this child and walked by. New Yorkers don't surprise me, but this is a child! They should be ashamed! I hope someone recognizes someone in the shots and sets them straight!

There are 3 classifications of homeless.

*CHRONIC HOMELESSNESS

• Persons most like the stereotyped profile of the “skid-row” homeless, who are likely to be entrenched in the shelter system and for whom shelters are more like long-term housing rather than an emergency arrangement. These individuals are likely to be older, and consist of the “hard-core unemployed”, often suffering from disabilities and substance abuse problems. Yet such persons represent a far smaller proportion of the population compared to the transitionally homeless. 

TRANSITIONAL HOMELESSNESS

• Transitionally homeless individuals generally enter the shelter system for only one stay and for a short period. Such persons are likely to be younger, are probably recent members of the precariously housed population and have become homeless because of some catastrophic event, and have been forced to spend a short time in a homeless shelter before making a transition into more stable housing. Over time, transitionally homeless individuals will account for the majority of persons experiencing homelessness given their higher rate of turnover. 

EPISODIC HOMELESSNESS

• Those who frequently shuttle in and out of homelessness are known as episodically homeless. They are most likely to be young, but unlike those in transitional homelessness, episodically homeless individuals often are chronically unemployed and experience medical, mental health, and substance abuse problems.

*Taken from Nationalhomeless.org

Homeless youth is the one that tugs my heart the most. Homeless youth are sometime referred to as “unaccompanied” youth, are individuals under the age of 18 who lack parental, foster, or institutional care.

Here are a few facts:

• Between 1.6 and 2.8 million youth runaway and/or are homeless in a year.
• Youth age 12-17 are more at risk of homelessness than adults.
• Homeless youth are evenly male-female, although females are more likely to seek help through shelters and hotlines.
• Between 6% and 22% of homeless girls are estimated to be pregnant.
• 46% of runaway and homeless youth reported being physically abused; 38% reported being emotionally abused; 17% reported being forced into unwanted sexual activity by a family or household member [Department of HHS, 1997].
• 75% of homeless or runaway youth have dropped out or will drop out of school.
• Between 20% and 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBT.

Luckily for the homeless youth in my area, there is The Shaw House.  From their website: *Shaw House in Bangor has provided vital services and support to over 7000 runaway, homeless and at-risk young people, aged between 10 and 23, since first opening its doors in 1991.*

There are many projects going around where scarves and gloves have been left around trees with notes attached saying, "Im not lost. If you are cold and need me, please take me."  I have even read of pastors giving out blankets and foil survival blankets to homeless vets. 

But it takes more than that to help. Contact your local shelter, food pantry or Community Center to see what they are in need of or what the people need.